Governance

Decisions made by the people who live with the consequences

Transparent co-governance, sociocratic decision-making, clear conflict pathways, and rules durable enough to outlast their authors.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

More intentional communities fail on governance than on infrastructure. Autarkeia communities are designed with explicit decision-making structures, transparent finances, written agreements, and conflict pathways so that disagreements become workable problems rather than slow-motion divorces.

Section 01

Sociocracy as the default operating system

We use sociocratic / consent-based decision-making as the default. Decisions are made within small circles with clear domains; consent (no reasoned objection) is preferred over majority vote for ongoing decisions; one-off operational choices are delegated to those closest to the work.

Sociocracy is not slow once people have practised it. Most operational decisions resolve in minutes; only genuine value-conflicts take real time, and that time is well spent.

Section 02

Written agreements and transparent finances

Verbal agreements drift; written ones can be argued with on the page. Each community maintains a living agreements document — covering membership, capital contributions, governance procedures, exit pathways, and conflict resolution — that any member can propose amendments to.

Finances are open. Monthly statements, capital reserves, project budgets, and major contracts are visible to all members. Anonymity is reserved for personal data, not for community money.

Section 03

Conflict pathways and care

Conflict is not a failure mode; it is the normal cost of living closely with other people. We staff a small rotating mediation circle and pre-agree on a three-step pathway: direct conversation, mediation, and finally facilitated community circle.

Children, elders, and people with disabilities have explicit standing in governance discussions that affect them — not just in family-only side meetings. Care work is named, counted, and rotated like any other shared task.

Section 04

Neighbours, jurisdictions, and the outside world

Relationships with neighbouring landowners and local government are part of governance, not separate from it. We register properly, pay taxes properly, participate in local civic life, and over-communicate with neighbours about water use, road maintenance, and fire risk.

Communities that try to be invisible become suspect; communities that show up at the planning office and the village festival are usually treated as a welcome addition.

Section 05

Getting started

Good governance is something you practise together long before you sign deeds. We run governance workshops with prospective communities so the habits — agreed agendas, minutes, written agreements, conflict pathways — exist before there is anything to fight about.

Register your interest and tell us what governance experience you already bring; we are particularly interested in mediators, facilitators, finance-fluent residents, and people with prior intentional-community experience.

Help us build this

Register your interest, tell us where you want to live, and help us demonstrate that a serious cohort of households wants to live this way. We don't share your details with third parties.